The race was won by José Froilán González who took the lead on the first lap from polesitter, Juan Manuel Fangio and led every lap from that point. González was followed home by Mike Hawthorn, over a minute behind and the only other driver on the lead lap. Onofre Marimón completed the top three, albeit a lap down. It would be the young Argentine's final race as Marimón was killed in the practice session for the following race, the German Grand Prix.

The race is perhaps most notable for being the only occasion on which the fastest lap (and the point for achieving it) was split between seven drivers, all of which matched the best time of 1 minute 50 seconds. The seven drivers shared the single point, taking 1⁄7 of a point each. This strange occurrence was the result of the officials only timing laps in whole seconds. Even the practice times to determine the starting grid were issued in whole seconds. After this race, the FIA issued minimum standards for timing and scoring for the first time.

The result left Fangio with a slightly reduced 13.5 point lead of González in the Drivers' Championship.